Scars of Love
by fleurily
Summary: Ruby Pegasus, heiress to the Pegasus fortune, has been traveling with Yugi and friends for quite some time now. But one night will change this all, and leave her with scars to show for an emotional past...


Scars of love

_She was trapped. Walls on all sides, and before her, a boy with white hair. Behind the boy stood a tall man in a dark cloak. The boy drew a golden dagger from a sheath of the same material. He tested the edge of the blade with his thumb, grinning maliciously at her._

_"See you soon, Ruby."_

She woke with a start, Marik's laughter echoing in her ears. She sat up, breathing heavily and sweating in the cold night air. Yugi was beside her in an instant, brushing her sweat soaked hair out of her face.

"Are you okay, Ruby? Did you have another bad dream?" He asked, his eyes wide with concern. She took a deep breath and steadied her nerves.

"I'm fine, Yugi. Just a nightmare. Go back to sleep, or you'll be too tired to duel tomorrow." She reassured him, grinning half-heartedly. He lay down on his sleeping bag and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Ruby turned over and pulled her blankets up tightly around her. The dreams had been coming since about two weeks ago, ever since they had started out for this stupid tournament. The first five duelist battled had taken place, and now she, Joey, and Yugi had made it to the finals. Today she and Joey had gone head to head, and if it had not been her turn next the match could have been declared a draw. Marik had unfortunately defeated Yugi. She looked at her watch; 3:48, three hours, twelve minutes, thirty-six seconds until the duel. Twenty seconds. Ten seconds. Five…

"Ruby! Wake up, you're gonna be late!" Ruby grabbed her boots and shirt and began to pull them on. Duke laced up her boots and tied them as she brushed her hair and pulled it into a loose bun. The speakers from the nearby arena blared the names of the final duelists, announcing the arrival of Marik. Ruby dashed down the road with the others in tow, clumsily strapping her duel disk to her arm. As they reached the entrance arch she cursed and stopped, straightening the disk. Duke straightened it for her and shoved her through the door into the arena.

"HERE SHE IS, FOLKS! RUBY NUBIS, OUR FINAL DUELIST! DUELISTS, TAKE YOUR PLACES!" She stepped forward to the edge of a platform. A guard helped her up the steep steps before showing her where she needed to stand and pushing the steps up and into the side of the platform. As Marik took his place the platform began to raise into the air, suspended above the ground below. The referee nodded, the crowd roared wildly, and the match began.

Ruby whooped joyously, hugging her friends as they cheered, celebrating her victory. In her right hand she held her trophy. Seto Kaiba shook her hand as he handed it to her, and the cash prize had been deposited into her account. Now they were back at the campsite, and the sun was setting. Ruby wandered away from the campfire into the trees, staring at the moon. Suddenly she heard a stick snap behind her. She whirled around in time to see a cloaked figure swinging a rock down onto her skull before everything went black.

"Odeon, I would have preferred it if she were awake."

"I apologize, Master."

"Go away. I want to be alone when she wakes up." As the sound of a door slamming echoed in the chamber, Ruby sat up groggily. She stretched, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Where am I?" She yawned widely. Suddenly a dagger was being pressed into her throat.

"Hello, Ruby. You remember this room? But no, of course you wouldn't. This, Ruby, is where you will lose control of your mind. Can you feel it? Slowly, little by little, my power is eating away at your free will. The only question now is where to put my mark of ownership." He slid the tip of the dagger down between her collarbones. "I could put it here-" he leaned forward and placed his lips on her pulse point, kissing the delicate skin covering the vein. "But I might slip and slice open this artery, and where would we be then?"

"Do you do this with your male mind slaves? Because if you do, it would explain a lot-" She was cut short as he sent her sprawling with a rough shove.

"I hold your life in my fingertips, Ruby. All it takes is one snap, one twist, and you are totally under my control. I could make you my most loyal servant, lapping my boots like the dog you are." His voice was cool and concealed his fury. Ruby pushed herself to her feet.

"Bring it on, asswipe." He grinned and she felt a sickening twist at the edge of her mind.

"Come on then, Ruby. Be a good little lapdog and obey me." Marik pointed his finger at his feet. "Bow down at your master's feet." She growled, locking her knees to keep from falling to the ground.

"The hell I will." He grinned maliciously at her.

"All you are doing is making this enjoyable for me. Isn't it hard to fight? And I'm barely pressing you. Now, for a true demonstration-" Her legs collapsed beneath her and she found herself face down next to his feet. She tried to get up, but it was as if she was disconnected from her body.

"Well, Ruby, about the second part of that challenge. Didn't I say something about your lapping my boots?" Another twist and she was fighting him once again, turning her head away from his shoes. He 'tsk'ed disapprovingly. "When will you ever learn?" She felt a snap in her mind and suddenly found herself licking one of the boots on Marik's feet. He let her stop and she rolled away from him, panting.

"Your face is too pretty for such use, dear. If you stop fighting it would be so much easier." He knelt beside her, looking thoroughly amused.

"Damn you." She gasped and spat right in his face. He grabbed her by the back of her neck, slamming her face first into the wall. Her cheek was pressed into it, and her feet were barely touching the ground. She felt his dagger at the base of her spine. He began to slowly draw it upward, tracing her spine. As it pierced the skin a sharp pain like that of electricity speared her. She cried out in pain and every muscle in her body tensed. Marik leaned forward, hissing in her ear.

"If I were to press a little harder, this blade would go straight into your spinal cord. You would die instantly, Ruby." He stopped and moved the knife over one of her ribs. He jabbed it into the skin, pressing into the bone. The shriek of metal against bone and Ruby's scream of pain blended into one piercing screech. Marik yanked the knife free and let Ruby drop to the ground. Blood was welling along the lines on her back. She hunched against the wall, shaking and whimpering. He yanked her left boot off, placing the knife between her Achilles' tendon and heel. He began to carve a symbol in the skin, carefully avoiding the sensitive tendon. Once the wound had healed, there would be a scar on the inside of her ankle, as white as snow against the tan skin. He completed the complicated design and wrapped a bandage around her foot. Ruby shrank into the corner in fear as Marik stood up, sliding his dagger back into its sheath. He reached his hand out to help her to her feet, but she flinched.

"Please don't hurt me!" She whimpered. He smiled victoriously.

"Finally, Ruby. I knew you would figure it out before I had to take drastic measures." He trailed off as he noticed what Ruby was doing. She was huddled in the corner, sobbing uncontrollably and shaking with chill. Her shirt was hanging off of her in tatters, and what was left was soaked with blood from her back. One of her boots was still on, but it was scratched and ruined. Her face was bruised from the wall and floor, and her hair was matted and tangled. Marik reached out to pick her up, but she screamed and covered her head with her arms.

"Don't touch me, you bastard!" He stepped back with a grin.

"Well, well, it seems that it will take more than that to get your obedience. I rather enjoy taming you." She snarled and stood up, wincing with pain as she put pressure on her foot.

"Tame this!" She slapped him sharply across the face. His head snapped sideways from the strength of the blow. He put a hand to his cheek slowly; simmering rage burned in the glare he gave Ruby. "You think you have a right to torture people because you have a prophecy painted on your back! Nothing special about some tattoos, Marik, and you have no right to treat me like this. Go to hell!" The two stood glaring at each other in silence for a long minute. Then, to Ruby's shock, Marik began to laugh. He drew his dagger and ran a finger over the edge of it. With a twist of power he pushed Ruby to the ground so that she was on her knees. She fought as he commanded her to lie facedown on the floor, so she was kneeling with her hands holding up her shoulders. Her head was down, and she was biting her lip in exertion. Finally Marik stopped.

"All right then, stay like that. Though I've heard that it hurts less when you lie down." He pressed the knife between her shoulder blades. "Of course, I wouldn't know. I've never had anyone _carve_ a prophecy in my back without any painkillers. I know every line on my back like I know my own name, Ruby, and I have no scruples against etching each and every one into your skin." He sliced the dagger through her skin. She arched her back as she bit her lip. She would not give him the satisfaction of knowing how bad it hurt. He pulled it down, carving skin and muscle. As he finished the line, he twisted the dagger and pulled it out. Ruby gasped sharply in pain, collapsing to the floor as her arms gave way. Marik shifted her so he could continue to slice into her flesh. The pain was so great that she couldn't move or even scream, just lie on the floor and survive the pain of a million bolts of lightning running through veins.

"Why don't you use the Eye to stop me?" Marik taunted as he carved a box around a dragon and the surrounding runes. "Can't you defend yourself from me?"

"You'd use it to destroy me." She barely managed to gasp the words. He laughed.

"Oh, Ruby, I enjoy your company too much to kill you." Marik twisted the knife in a complicated flourish and she whimpered as the muscle tore. He yanked his dagger free as he completed his work. "There now, you'll have a beautiful scar on your back, too. Odeon! Bandages!" He called the last part out the door. When Odeon appeared with the requested bandages, the two men began to wrap them around her limp form. Odeon held her in a sitting position while Marik cleaned the blood from her wounds and began to swath her in the linen cloth. Once he had finished dressing her engravings he gestured to Odeon with a wave of his hand.

"Get her new clothes and bring her back to me. I'll decide what to do with her then." Odeon paused, then nodded. He hefted the unconscious girl over his shoulder and left the room. Marik surveyed the room. "Someone needs to clean up this place." He remarked before following Odeon and slamming the door.

When Ruby woke up, she was lying on her stomach in a soft bed. She tried to push herself up, but cried out when pain shot down her back. She looked down at herself and saw that she was wearing a red silken nightgown with a lace collar. Her hair had been brushed, washed, and plaited neatly into little braids that had been pinned to her scalp in a complicated design. She noticed stiffness around her torso, and as she ran a hand over her side she felt bandages wrapped around her. As she attempted to sit up once again, a hand pushed her down onto the bed again.

"Be careful, or you'll break open your cuts again!" Marik helped her turn over and sit up on the pillows behind her. Ruby flinched as she leaned back against them, but relaxed as she sank back into the soft cotton. Marik waved the serving girls out of the room and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Instead of sending you back to your friends I've decided to keep you with me. Remember what I said about making you my most loyal servant?" She tensed and backed away from him. "No, no, not forcibly, dear. I won't twist your mind like that yet. I simply wish to keep you, as a master keeps his pet. All I need to do is keep you with me at all times. You can't go anywhere unless I tell you to. As it is, Ruby, from now on these will be your chambers. Mine are down the hall. Oh, yes." He pulled something from his pocket and held it up to the light. It was a necklace, silver in coloring, with a diamond-laden ankh in the center. "Lean forward." He commanded, and fastened the clasp onto her neck. It was a choker, and tightly hugged her throat. "Platinum. If you ever attempt to leave my side, this will alert me to your disobedience and allow me the opportunity to retrieve you. That bureau in the corner has new clothes made to fit you. If I was informed correctly your favorite color is red? Good. You can get any outfit you want made if you ask the seamstresses downstairs. But until your back heals you'll have to stay in your room."

"But I don't want to stay with you! I want to go home!" She protested loudly. He placed a finger over her lips.

"Hush. What home, Ruby? You travel forever with your friends. You don't even have a family like Yugi does. Even Seto Kaiba has his little brother. I want this to be your home, and for me to be your family." She laughed.

"Like a sick, twisted, sadistic father figure?" Marik stood and began to pace the chamber restlessly.

"How old are you, Ruby?"

"Eighteen in October."

"I turn nineteen in September. I am only a year older than you. I don't want to be a father figure to you, Ruby. I wish to be like a brother, and much more." She stared at him, appalled.

"You want to be my boyfriend?" Marik turned and opened the door.

"Go to sleep, Ruby. You need to rest so you can heal." The door slammed and Marik was gone. After a few minutes had passed she heaved herself to her feet and limped over to the bureau. Searching through the clothes hanging there she found a dress with deep violet embroidery on the seams and bodice. She slipped it on clumsily over her bandaged torso and used the full-length mirror in the corner to fasten the back of the dress. A pair of matching silken slippers was on the bottom of the bureau, and she pulled the right one on before carefully unwrapping the bandages on her left ankle. Marik had carved a tiny ankh there, deep into the skin. She shuddered as she realized that if she had flinched while he was cutting her Achilles' tendon would have been sliced. She silently thanked God that she had been in shock during the ordeal. She settled onto one of the couches with a book and began to read. She soon realized that it was a history of ancient Egypt, specifically the tasks of the tomb guardians. Page after page of duties, rites, and rituals flew by, hour after hour until the sun was beginning to set outside the windows that covered the wall near her bed. A single ray of sunlight shone on the last page as she closed the cover gently. A knock on her door roused her from her silent contemplation.

"Lady Ruby, Master Marik says to prepare you for bed." The serving girls guided her to the room connected to her bedchamber. As they filled the bath, she took in the scarlet walls and glass vases filled with roses. Ruby undressed as the girls left the room. Slowly she unwrapped her bandages, her back facing the mirror.

_Maybe it won't scar, maybe it isn't as bad as it felt, maybe, maybe. _But as she began to unwrap the last layer of linen her heart fell. Each cut was sliced deeply into muscle and flesh, and even though the wounds were stitched shut it was clear that they would never mend without bold scars. She dropped the dirty bandages on the floor and sank into the water. This was what came from humanity, then.

"Damn you, Marik! Why did you do this to me?" She screamed to the empty room. "Damn you."

Months passed, and slowly Ruby healed. Each day Marik came to her rooms and talked with her, read books with her, and looked over announcements for upcoming tournaments. One day in October he took her downstairs blindfolded.

"Marik, what is it?" He opened door and pushed her in, pulling off the blindfold and turning on the lights. She gasped as she saw the outfit on display before her. A silver shirt that looked like a long sleeved t-shirt from the front, but on the back it laced up with a silver chain. A pair of metallic silver pants trailed behind.

"Oh! It's beautiful. But the back…" She trailed off, blushing. He pulled something off of a rack behind him. It was a long, red cape with a high collar. It clasped in the front with a silver rose brooch. She gasped with joy. "Why did you get this for me, Marik?" He showed her an announcement for a tournament. "'National contestants, cash prize. Put on by Kaiba Corps.' Well, of course it is. So you're going to compete? And I'm coming too."

"Yes, we're leaving tonight. It starts tomorrow. Your bags have been packed, and you will be wearing this to my championship duel. Oh yes, I forgot." He handed her a silver tiara with rubies adorning the crown. She reached out to take it from him and paused.

"Before I ask you my last question, give me that." She grabbed the tiara. "You're trying to buy me off! You know damn well my friends will be there, so why bring me?" Marik turned his back to her, walking over to the displayed outfit.

"Ruby, if I have to force you to not ask questions I will feel only slightly guilty." She stepped forward indignantly.

"I'll be damned if you even try to do so, Marik." She dropped the tiara with a clatter as she fell to her knees, breathing heavily. Marik turned and looked down at her coolly.

"Let us not forget who is master here, Ruby. Do you forget what it is like to clean the boots of one more powerful than yourself with your tongue?" She glared up at him.

"You wouldn't dare." She snarled. A twist of power and she was fighting for control. Suddenly her mind went numb and she was completely under his domination. She screamed silently in rage and fear as her body leaned forward and kissed the toe of Marik's boot. Her body stood and wrapped an arm around his shoulder, leaning against him. He kissed her gently on her temple and whispered in her ear.

"You'll see my purpose, dear."

Ruby snarled mentally._ You are going to control me to do your will, what you command. _He laughed.

"Not all my will, darling. I'm above forcing you to sleep with me, but anything else goes." He turned to her, pulling her close. "Including this." He pressed his lips to hers. His kiss was gentle at first, then became zealous. She returned the kiss as he released her mind, one hand on the back of his head. He ran his fingers through her hair, fumbling with the buttons on the back of her dress. He stopped, pushing her away. "This goes too far. Go to your rooms, Ruby. The maids will come to get you before we leave."

Each day was like an eternity with duel after duel being fought and won by Marik. Ruby was always on the sidelines to cheer him on, but she wore a veil to avoid recognition. The day before the finals she stayed in their rooms and watched television. At four o clock the door flew open and Marik ran in and hugged her.

"I'm going to the finals!" The two of them went out to dinner in the best restaurant in town to celebrate. Marik leaned over the table and poured her a glass of wine. "Tomorrow is your birthday, you know, and I'm giving you a trophy as a present." She kissed the side of his face.

"Of course you will, Marik. You are the best." She raised her glass. "A toast to Marik, soon to be champion of dueling."

"And here are our duelists, folks! Marik on this side with his charming little guest, and Yugi Mutoh on this side with his friends! Duelists, shuffle your decks! Let the duel begin!" Ruby stood on the sidelines across from her friends. She kept glancing across the field, but they were concentrating on the duel. Barely paying attention, she thought back to that morning, when she was preparing for the duel. Marik had been tying the back of her new shirt. He had wrapped his arms around her, and she had put her hands behind his neck. He kissed the back of her neck, tracing the scars on her back with his fingers.

"Like pearl inlays on a silver sword." He had said, and she had laughed, turning around to face him.

"A silver sword? Why so dangerous a weapon?"

"Because that is what you are, dear. A beautiful killer, an emerald viper of Nile. You use your charms to draw in your prey before the final deadly strike." He leaned down and kissed the top of her hair. "How odd that I would be the one who is thoroughly ensnared in your trap."

Trapped. How odd that only a few months ago she would have considered herself trapped by Marik, imprisoned by her own mind. But now- now she didn't know. And the scars. She had never considered the scars on her back something to be proud of, something beautiful. She had always hidden them in shame. _Pearl inlays on a golden sword. Oh, wait a second, the duel's over._ She climbed up the steps to the field and ran over to Marik.

"It's a draw, but at least you didn't lose." He smiled and hugged her, picking her up and spinning her around.

"We get the cash still, and the trophy." Rain was beginning to fall onto the emptying arena when a huge blast of wind blew the cape off of Ruby's back. It landed at Yugi's feet, where he picked it up. She ran across the field to get it and came face to face with her old friends.

"Ruby?" They gasped. She coolly took her cape from Yugi's hands and turned away.

"Thank you." Another gust of wind blew the mass of tangled hair from her back, revealing the etchings under the backless shirt. She turned as she heard the alarmed exclamations. "What?" She began to fasten the clasp to her cape.

"Your back! What happened to your back?" The group stammered. She grinned as Marik came to stand by her, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her close.

"Do you like it? I do. It looks like pearl inlay, don't you think?"

"Ruby, since when are you with Marik?" Yugi looked shell-shocked, absolutely appalled that his ex was with his worst enemy. Her smile faded into a scowl.

"Yugi, where were you when I disappeared that night? Did you ever wonder what had happened to me? Did you even search?"

"Um- we assumed that you had left in the middle of the night."

"Leaving all my belongings in the camp. I see your reasoning, people do that quite often, you know." She scathingly retorted. Marik leered approvingly and kissed Ruby's hair, hugging her around the hips from behind.

"Yes, Yugi, why didn't you come to find such a beauty as this?" Yugi bristled as Ruby leaned her head back onto Marik's shoulder, closing her eyes. Marik kissed her neck gently. "This endless chatter has fatigued you, dear. Let's go and prepare to return home. Farewell, Yugi." He picked Ruby up and carried her off the field. Yugi and the others stared helplessly after the retreating forms.

"You've got to be kidding me! Marik! Don't leave me here!" Ruby shouted indignantly at him as they stood in the entryway. Marik sighed, aggravated with her protests.

"If I've told you once, I've told you a million times! It's a business trip, and you would be terribly bored with the entire affair."

"I don't care if it's boring, I just want to get out of this place! You've turned it into a prison!" She stormed out of the hall, slamming the door so hard that a vase fell off of a table and shattered on the floor.

"Ruby! RUBY! COME BACK! Dammit, Rubes, can't you ever get mad and _not _break something!" He surveyed the mess reproachfully. "If you can still hear me, I'll be back in about two weeks. Enjoy yourself!" He walked out the door.

Two days later Ruby was sitting on a marble bench in the gardens reading. As the clock in the nearby house chimed the hour, a rustle on the nearby path alerted her to the presence of someone she least expected to see in Marik's estate. As she recognized the well-dressed boy she yelped and fell backward onto the soft, snow covered ground.

"What the hell are you doing here? Get out! Out!" She screamed at Bakura. "I'll call for Odeon!" He laughed.

"Odeon left two days back with your master Marik."

"Marik is not my master-"

"Then why does he collar you like a dog that has misbehaved?" He reached out and touched the necklace. She drew back sharply before standing, her bell shaped skirt rustling with the movement.

"You have no right to be here, Ryou Bakura. I will call for the guards to escort you out." She turned as if to leave, but Ryou reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Together we could rule the world, Ruby, limitless power-"

"Oh do shut up, Ryou, I've heard the spiel before. Go away, rob a bank, do something, but don't bother me."

Day upon empty day passed, void of laughter and cheer. Ruby spent each day staring out the giant bay windows looking out onto the front drive as if waiting for something. She slept restlessly each night, and when sleep did come she was visited by Ishizu, Shadu, Yami, and other visions of her past. Once she woke up in the morning and thought that she had seen the scars on her back glowing in the dark. The night before Marik came back was the only night she had slept peacefully in weeks. The next morning the front door opened to admit Marik, who was carrying a single red rose for Ruby. She threw her arms around him, almost knocking him over as she ran down the stairs. He returned her embrace before tilting her chin up and looking at her face.

"Ruby! You look like you haven't slept since I left! You have bruises under your eyes, and you've lost weight!" He exclaimed.

"No I haven't, I've been fine." Marik called for a serving girl.

"Has Lady Ruby been well since my departure?"

"No, sir. She has been sleeping restlessly and refusing her food." Ruby glared at her.

"Traitor."

"No, Ruby, you should be glad she told me. If this happens only when I leave for long periods of time…" He paused. "We haven't been separated since you first came here, have we?"

"No." She reluctantly replied. Marik began to pace.

"Resume your duties!" He snapped at the girl. She scuttled from the room. He spun on Ruby, anger in his voice. "Why on earth didn't you call for me? You could have gotten sick, you could have died, and it would have been my fault! You just sat here pining away like an idiot!"

"It's would have been your fault! You didn't even bother to remember that I can't leave your side! Don't you remember what you said after I first came?"

"Instead of sending you back to your friends I've decided to keep you with me. Remember what I said about making you my most loyal servant?" She tensed and backed away from him. "No, no, not forcibly, dear. I won't twist your mind like that yet. I simply wish to keep you, as a master keeps his pet. All I need to do is keep you with me at all times. You can't go anywhere unless I tell you to. As it is, Ruby, from now on these will be your chambers. Mine are down the hall. Oh, yes." He pulled something from his pocket and held it up to the light. It was a necklace, silver in coloring, with a diamond-laden ankh in the center. "Lean forward." He commanded, and fastened the clasp onto her neck. It was a choker, and tightly hugged her throat. "Platinum. If you ever attempt to leave my side, this will alert me to your disobedience and allow me the opportunity to retrieve you."

"Ruby, I'm sorry I left you here alone. From now on you can come with me. Alright?" Ruby yelped with joy and hugged Marik.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou! I love you!" Marik smiled and hugged her back.

"I'm certain you do, dear." He started as he realized that she was wearing a backless shirt. "You aren't hiding your scars anymore." She spun around, showing off her outfit.

"I thought about what you said, back at the tournament. I realized that I shouldn't be ashamed of my back, I should be proud of my individuality." Marik smiled and kissed her forehead.

"Like pearl inlays on a silver sword. How beautiful you are, little viper. How beautiful you are."

"Today in the economic news, the world renowned Kaiba Corporations have been exposed in a scandal of monstrous proportions. Seto and Mokuba Kaiba, the brothers that currently own and run the company, have made no comment as to the source of the accusations." A picture flashed across the screen, showing a group of teens including Yugi, Joey, Mai, Taea, and Serenity. Yugi was laughing and had his arm around the shoulders of a tall girl with red hair. She was grinning complacently at the camera, one eyebrow upraised. "Yugi Moutoh and friends-" Seto pressed the pause button and zoomed in on the girl's face. Mokuba reached for the remote.

"Turn it back on, Seto! And get it off the news!"

"Ruby, get packed. We're going on a trip." She turned around to see Marik.

"Oh great, you're havin' one of those schizo days, aren't you?"

"What puzzles me is that you have no obvious difference between your two personalities."

"It's just luck that we're almost exactly alike. Except that she uses Mane and Tail. I prefer Fructis. And she likes a cold shower in the mornings. Ice cold. But she likes boiling hot." Marik shook his head.

"Just let it go, girls. I'm confused." He turned to leave.

"Wait! Where are we going?" Ruby called after him.

"To meet Seto Kaiba."

The steel walls and floors of the room seemed to stretch endlessly from Ruby's point of view. She backed against Marik, reassured at the arm around her waist. A deep feeling of unsettled anxiety pulsed in her veins. Something was wrong here, and she knew what it was in a far corner of her mind.

Ruby stepped forward, her flowing dancing clothes and scarves fluttering in a non-existent wind.

"I have to go."

Marik looked desperately at her face, clasping her hand in his.

"You can't change the course of fate. Noah is part of ours."

Ruby wrenched the necklace from her throat, planting a gentle kiss on the ankh charm. As she placed it in Marik's palm, a wave of air seemed to replace diamond with ruby. She slowly blinked, stepping away.

"Can't I? Is he? We may be trapped physically, but we can go, we can leave."

We're supposed to leave. I don't go to Noah's world. Do I? Confusion rang in her mind. The floor beneath Ruby and Marik began to shimmer and dissolve. Ruby grinned and kissed Marik before stepping back.

"I love you, Marik."

"MARIK! THE FLOOR!" Ruby screamed and reached for his hand, but too late. She began to tumble down through the dark. It seemed to her as though she was not alone, but that Yami was there with her. She closed her eyes and gave up the struggle to remain conscious as she fell into the next chapter of her life.


End file.
